Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
by TisTheEast
Summary: Modern AU. Susan and Jackson celebrate the holidays with family and friends.


**_Author's Notes:_**_ In keeping with an old tradition, I've decided to attempt an extremely fluffy holiday fic, and in keeping with old tradition, I didn't get it done until after the holidays. Nonetheless, here is the first chapter of a modern AU Ripper Street holiday story dedicated to the wonderful inhabitants of the Deadroom as a belated holiday gift. Special thanks to Frankie, for beta-ing and to Mattie, who deserves half credit for Nicholas._

_**Spoilers and such:**__ Since this is an AU and a modern one at that, there are technically no spoilers and to be honest, I started writing this very early during season 3 and could not have predicted the ways in which this story may or may not align with some of the storylines. _

As the fire crackled softly in the background and the Christmas tree twinkled in the corner, Jackson settled back onto the couch and mused that the evening was nearly perfect. There was only one thing missing, and judging by the sound of an approaching car, that would soon resolve itself. Making his way to the front door, Jackson swung it open eagerly to be greeted by the sight of Bennett Drake.

"Not happy to see me, American?" Drake asked, watching the grin fall from Jackson's face.

"Hate to break it to you, Benito, but I'm waiting for someone much prettier than you."

"Feelin's mutual, I assure you," Drake replied as another car approached. It had been sheer coincidence that both Rose and Susan were both flying back from overseas that evening and downright luckily that once Susan arrived in New York from Chicago, the pair would be on the same flight. That had left Jackson and Drake to wait together for their arrival, and though Jackson knew the Inspector and Rose hadn't seen each other for the better part of two months while he and Susan had only been apart a few days, it was the American who bounded forward as his wife parked the car, barely giving her enough time to unbuckle her seatbelt before pulling her into his arms.

"And here I was worried that we'd end up having to meet you at work," Susan said returning her husband's kiss.

"Reid was good enough to finish up all of the outstanding paperwork so the Inspector and I could leave early," Jackson replied leading Susan toward the house. He nodded to Drake and Rose who were smiling shyly at each other. "The two of you up for a drink?"

Once inside Drake continued to smile as Rose regaled them all with stories from her life on the road with a musical theater company.

"That," Jackson said softly he and Susan made their way into the living room with drinks for everyone. "Is the look of a man in love."

"Not that you'd know anything about that," Susan said winking at him as Drake and Rose both laughed at a part of of the story they had missed.

"Is Santa Claus here?" asked a small voice from the hallway.

Jackson chuckled handing Rose and Bennett their drinks before scooping up the small boy who was dressed in pajamas with dinosaurs on them and clutching a stuffed toy. "Not tonight, buddy remember? But there's someone else here who I bet is happy to see you even if you're supposed to be in bed."

"Mama!" the little boy squealed, wiggling in his father's arms.

In a perfectly choreographed series of movements, Jackson managed to grab the drinks Susan was carrying as the child launched himself into his mother's arms.

"I don't think you can imagine how much I missed you, little one," Susan said softly as she embraced her son.

"Lots and lots?" Nicholas asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, very much so. Did you boys have fun while I was gone?"

Nicholas nodded as Susan carried him over to the sofa. Once they were settled Nicholas on Susan's lap and his stuffed toy carefully placed on his father's lap, Jackson wrapped an arm around Susan, alternately running his fingers through her golden curls and snaking around her shoulder to tap his son on the arm. It was a little game they played as Nicholas commanded all attention in the room, chattering both to his mother and Uncle Ben and Auntie Rose.

"...and then Daddy and Mr. Wolf and I went to the grocery store and they had cookies…"

"Mr. Wolf?" Rose asked, more to Susan than the boy who continued his story unphased.

Susan nodded to the stuffed wolf dressed rather elegantly in trousers and a waistcoat yet still obviously well loved and taken everywhere. "It was sent by someone, I wish I could recall who, when he was born. Now they're inseparable."

Rose nodded as Nicholas continued, "Then Daddy and Mr. Wolf _and _Uncle Ben took me to the surprise store…"

It was Susan's turn to interrupt raising an eyebrow at both her husband and Drake, "The surprise store?"

"Sometimes a man and his cohorts have to go someplace special to obtain a holiday surprise for his wife who has a knack for figuring everything out," Jackson replied smoothly as he took a long sip of whiskey and winked at Susan and Nicholas, praying that Drake had managed to keep any indication of panic off his face.

"Well then it's a good thing that his wife has a surprise or two of her own," Susan said.

"I like surprises!" Nicholas exclaimed, causing the adults to chuckle. As the conversation drifted to other topics, Jackson couldn't help but notice the way Susan smiled; it was a very particular way in which her lips curved just slightly that told him that his wife was both happy to be home but was indeed keeping a rather large secret.

"So about that surprise…"

Several hours had passed. Bennett and Rose were off to his place for evening, and Susan had just finished putting Nicholas back to bed while Jackson fetched her luggage from the car.

She laughed gently as her husband hoisted a suitcase onto their bed, "Even Nicholas can wait until Christmas, dear."

"Something about the way you said it, that look in your eyes, makes a man curious," Jackson said nonchalantly. He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Or maybe I've just missed looking in your eyes these past few days."

"That must be it," she replied softly, leaning into his embrace. As he kissed her, she sighed softly, both amused and grateful that only a few hours home could so radically improve her mood.

"It was that bad, huh?" Jackson said, his lips still hovering close to hers.

Surprising both of them Susan chuckled. "You have no idea."

As she moved to sit down on the bed, grabbing his hand and pulling him along with her, Jackson felt a pang of guilt that had been nagging him all week return. "Darlin'..."

Susan shook her head, "We needn't go through this again."

He stroked her cheek gently, "It was your father's funeral. I should have been there with you."

"You were precisely where you needed to be - here with our son," she replied, with a soft kiss. As she turned to unzip the suitcase, Jackson began massaging her shoulders, and nearly a week's worth of tension began to melt away allowing a more playful tone to creep into her voice. "You did miss getting to meet Carla."

"And who, dare I ask, is that?"

"Theodore's widow-," Susan replied. Jackson didn't need to see his wife's face to know the expression she wore. "-who happens to be, from what I could tell, at least five years younger than me."

Jackson let out a low whistle and merely shook his head as Susan turned to face him, her eyes sparkling. "I wonder how she felt about technically being a grandmother."

This made Jackson chuckle; he pulled his wife onto his lap, placing a kiss at the corner of her mouth. "Tell me you didn't point that fact out to her."

"I was attempting not to draw attention to my presence." She brushed a few stray pieces of dark hair from his forehead as he raised his eyebrows at her. "I behaved."

They settled back against the pillows, Susan resting her head against her husband's shoulder and letting her eyes drift shut. Jackson eyed the half unpacked suitcase still at the end of the bed, hoping she wouldn't fall asleep before he had a chance to move it.

"Any of the boys there?" he asked, in part to keep her awake for a few more minutes and in part because he was genuinely curious.

"I think most of them stopped working for Theodore after we left," Susan yawned.

It wasn't really an answer to his question, but Jackson chalked it up to spending nearly nine hours on an airplane and didn't push the subject. He waited for a few minutes until he was able to maneuver his way off the bed, leaving Susan to sleep as he leaned the suitcase against their closet and turned off the overhead light. As he slid back into bed and wrapped his arms around his wife, she murmured, "Don't let me sleep too late tomorrow. We have so much to do."

As the scent of her hair and the warmth of being in each other's arms made Jackson's eyelids grow heavy, he chose to ignore the potential chaos of pulling together a holiday dinner for seven people, attending a Christmas Eve concert and getting Nicholas to bed in time for he and Susan to finish wrapping all of their son's gifts. That would all come tomorrow; for the moment he was happy to now have his perfect evening complete.

_To be continued in Chapter 2..._


End file.
